Incerta glòria

Set during Spanish Civil War on the tumultuous and violent 1937 in Front of Aragón. The film is divided in various parts whose backdrop is the Spanish Civil War on the front and the rear of the Republicans . Recounting the experiences of young Lieutenant Lluís de Brocà i de Ruscalleda (Marcel Borràs) on the Aragon front whose lover is Trini Milmany (Bruna Cusí) , who results to be the female companion of Soleràs (Oriol Pla) , who one way or another is obsessed with her ; and , taking the point of view of a black widow (Nuria Prims), concerning their troublesome experiences . Along the way Lluis investigates and finally discovers dark secrets about the widow , Black Spider-alike. In this search he betrays his own roots and seeks the terrible truth .

Dark film with thrilling events , awesome performances , adequate settings and including a spotless as well as shading pictorial cinematography . The flick has some powerful , rousing images and occurs strong and downbeat happenings . This upsetting story of how war creates monsters is set in the harsh Civi war years' Catalan countryside . This is a thought-provoking flick dealing with astonishing events as well as a passionate retelling and a touching warlike drama with some historical insight . Being finely adapted by Agustí Villaronga himself from a novel written by Joan Sales about a twisted tale of treason , lies , punishment and retribution . This moving as well as strong story is an emotive recounting and an intense drama , including disturbing intrigues , tragedies , deaths and executions .The virtue of the movie is its style , resulting to be direct and simple and also captures the freshness of many authentic expressions, without ceasing to be Catalan literary, with many philosophical and provoking quotations. "Uncertain glory" bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Black beard¨ resulting to be other of the uncountable stories to deal with dramatic deeds regarding the Civil War background . A familiar theme about the global horrors of a fratricide war , impossible to forget to Spanish Cinema , as the picture gives a deep detail about lives at a village set during Civil War and some atrocities being committed by Francoists as well as Republicans. It belongs a sub-genre that revolves around the themes of the civil war through the eyes of unsettling characters , as there is a great number of pictures about this engaging issues such as : ¨Secrets of heart¨ by Montxo Armendariz , ¨Butterfly's Tongue¨by Jose Luis Cuerda , ¨Viaje De Carol¨ by Imanol Uribe and Pan's labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro . Uncertain Glory (in Catalan Incerta glòria) is based on a novel from the Catalan-language writer and editor Joan Sales, first published in September 1956 and extended in successive subsequent editions until the final edition in 1971. However, this latter extension was titled Últimes notícies ("Latest news"), although in later editions it was presented as an independent novel titled El vent de la nit ("The wind of the night"). Written by a witness of the defeated side, it contains no political message neither leaves an easy partisan exaltation. It reflects a pain that survives any propaganda from two factions: both the novel and poetry squires of the Falange as communist or republican writers. The writing of the novel lasted twenty-three years, expanded and worked incessantly. It was first published in September 1956 and extended in successive subsequent editions until the final edition in 1971. The French translation of 1962 contained texts that could not be read in the Catalan version .The novel won the Premi Joanot Martorell in 1955 and received good critical acclaim, starting by its French translation in 1962, where the book was compared with the work of writers such as Dostoevsky , Georges Bernanos or Julien Green. It is not strange comparison, as Dostoevsky was one of the favorite authors of Sales and therefore dare to make and edit an indirect translation, quite controversial, of The Brothers Karamazov . Agusti Villaronga also writes the script and being filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thoughtful issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . The main problem has to face "Uncertain glory" , beyond not being able to avoid falling into the politic pamphlet is precisely derived from the coldness of its staging , which eventually become monotonous over 115 minutes of footage . This is a budget enough Spanish production and obtained moderate success in the Spaniard box office . Cast gives nice acting : Marcel Borrás as a young republican officer destined for a temporarily dormant position , Nuria Prims as a deceitful femme-fatale , and Oriol Plá as a degraded officer who discovers the fraud committed by the widow and his friend . Excellent support cast forming an enjoyable human group of players and giving magnificent interpretations such as : Luisa Gavasa , Terele Pavez , Juán Diego and Fernando Esteso.

Appropriate and evocative musical score by Marcús Jgr . Dark as well atmospheric cinematography by Joseph Maria Civit who has been working in several national and international productions . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Agusti Villaronga . It won a number of Gaudí Awards 2018 , such as : Gaudí Award Best Female Lead : Núria Prim , Best Supporting Actor : Oriol Pla, Best Production Manager : Aleix Castellón , Best Cinematography : Josep M. Civit , Best Costume Design : Mercè Paloma , Best Sound : Xavier Mas , Fernando Novillo, Ricardo Galcerán, Best Visual Effects : Lolo López Egea , Bernat Aragonés , Best Makeup and Hairstyles : Alma Casal . Filmmaker Agustí Villaronga was born in 1953 in Majorca, Balearic Islands, he uses to make films including genuine chills , suspense , mystery and dark atmospheres . His movies pack excellent creation of taut , thriller , emotions and rare atmospheres , such as : ¨Aro Tolbukhin¨ , ¨El mar¨ , ¨El Niño de la Luna¨ and especially ¨In a glass cage¨ or ¨Tras el Cristal¨ . His greatest success was this ¨Black bread¨ or Pa Negre¨ winning several Goyas, this was first Catalan-language film to win the Goya Award for Best Film and Spain's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012 .

Or a war story. about friendship, love, passion, errors becoming sins. remembering old songs and Garcia Lorca plays. the lead character - the village. and the feelings. and the silences. the only strange thing - the emotion who seems remaining far by the viewer against the premises. a film with traits of Old Greek tragedy. decent performances, familiar scenes, a not surprising end. and the story of an innocent man changing. short, a Spanish story. beautiful, tragic. but not always real convincing. Nuria Prims reminding so many other actresses and theirs characters. Marcel Borras traits - between young Picasso and Bunuel in a role interesting but in many parts preserving the status of sketch. and sure, Oriol Pla in a more than interesting character skin. and, maybe, that is all.

During war it is tough to find love or compation for that matter. And when two former friends have to be on opposing sites .. you may wonder what it does to people. This movie may not be the best character piece or example, but it does have some serious drama in it (no pun intended). We follow the story of these people in desperate times and there is some affection that you will have for the characters.

Overall it will leave you cold though, apart from certain scenes, especially one involving a kid. But the emotional investment is limited, so you may not feel as much for the movie as you should. And for a movie like this to fully work, you'd need that. Still decent enough for one watch and very well made technically